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Publisher notes
Wow, it has been a wonderful summer! I have been
very busy both professionally and personally. I spoke and
facilitated a group at the Rethinking Education Conference in Dallas
the last weekend of August, then the next week my family and I
headed to the Live and Learn Conference in Black Mountain, NC.
I met some wonderful people at both conferences and really enjoyed
the group in Dallas! I have also become a proud mom to a horse named
Koady. He has been teaching me so much about horsemanship and
myself in the past couple of months. He is an amazing animal and we
take long rides in the woods which has been so fulfilling, it really
feeds my soul! I have not been sending out regular newsletters this
past summer, but I think I’m back on track for once a month…we shall
see. You all are always invited to send me a parenting question and
I will answer them either privately by e-mail or in the next
newsletter. I have always thought it would be a nice addition to the
newsletter to have an “Ask Tracy” type column, just send your
questions to tracy@transformingfamily.com with the subject line “Ask
Tracy”. Hope to hear from you soon! Peace~love~free~ Tracy
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What people are saying
My coaching sessions with Tracy came at a perfect
time. Being a parent is the most important thing I have ever done in
my life. I love it. But I also know that objective help can be very
wonderful if offered by the right person. Tracy is that person for
me. She is someone who cares deeply for the well-being of children,
so I trust her as a coach. She also cares deeply for the well-being
of all people. Tracy would listen to my concerns that week,
understand them, and shed some new light on an issue from an angle I
hadn't thought of before. Being a parent herself, she understands
how challenging parenting can be sometimes. Her compassion was
present at all times...compassion for the children and for me as a
parent wanting to "do right" for my kids. She has a very
calming presence and I always walked away from our conversations
with more awareness than I came with. I highly recommend Tracy for
anyone looking to deepen their awareness of themselves and their
children!
Kerry
Arizona
Go to
www.transformingfamily.com to learn more about coaching
with Tracy. |
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Family Harmony
I believe the simple principles of
family harmony are three fold, when you look at your family you must
look at three key elements, body, mind, and spirit. A healthy
family is like a healthy body, the system works together, almost
effortlessly. The brain is functioning, the heart pumps, the
lungs breathe and the body moves. In our families if every
persons needs are being meet the family will be functioning well and
in harmony with one another. It is important to check in with
the three key elements to help the family work well together.
What are the needs for the body, mind and spirit of each family
member? Every human being is made up differently and everyone has
different needs for food, sleep, quiet time, exercise, social
interaction, spirituality and many other components that you will
need to look at specifically for your family. I think one sure way
of disrupting family harmony is when the adults in the family are
deciding what everyone’s needs are around what they need. I believe
this is a common problem in today’s culture, not taking children’s
needs as seriously as our own.
The official definition for harmony in the Webster’s dictionary has
to do with musical sounds which do not clash or has an agreeable
effect. My interpretation of this in regards to our families is very
similar; it is a just rightness in our families, it is a sense of
inner peace that is flowing through all of us. We do not clash and
we have an agreeable effect, of course this is true most of the time
not all of the time, this is real life not the Hollywood version!
Feeling a since of disharmony often comes up in my coaching practice
and the places families tend to get out of balance tend to be around
getting out of the house, food and bed time. Why do you think that
is? Well, in my experience it is often due to expectations, like
being on time or kids should be in bed by 9 PM, or unreasonable
demands like eat all your vegetables or a 4 year old take a bath,
brush his teeth and get into PJ’s without assistance.
If you are feeling like you want more harmony in your home chose one
thing to work on at a time. Just be the “watcher” of what is going
on that causes the disharmony. Try not to judge or fix the situation
just watch, listen and learn from what is going on. Go back to the
simple formula of looking for what each person needs to be feeling
content and happy in his/her body, mind, and spirit. If getting out
the door to go somewhere always ends in some type of drama; whose
needs are not being met? Did little Johnny have all the time he
needed to transition from what he was doing before you announced
“lets go, we are late” or was Sara able to finish her level on her
video game and save before you rushed her out the door? These things
are very important to our kids, getting there on time is important
to us! So we need to look for ways to get things ready and in the
car in plenty of time and give the children as much time as they
need to be prepared to leave. That will look different for every
family, and once you figure out what everyone needs to accomplish
the goal things will run smoother and everyone will be more
agreeable. This is just one example of the daily situations that
families are sometimes challenged by, I hope this brief description
of family harmony has been helpful to you. Please feel free to sign
up for a FREE sample session at my website
www.transformingfamily.com if you would like to talk more about
a specific situation in your family that you would like to bring
more harmony to…I look forward to hearing from you!
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